Cat Scratching

Taking care of your pets is not
an easy task. Different kinds of pets show different kinds of tendencies
and at times it is very difficult to understand them. If you have a cat,
the problem becomes more difficult as she is not as expressive as a dog.
A cat seems more lost in her world more than anything else around. If
you have brought home a new cat, you must be worried about her
scratching behavior. By now, she must have shred your curtain, frayed
your sofa and must have left you at your wits end to deal with it.

Well, better relax. If your cat is busy with scratching, it is not very
unnatural. It is in fact her daily habit and you must get used to it. It
is a territorial instinct by which she places her mark and establishes
her home turf. So you must stop over worrying. Do not think that you cat
only marks her domains by this scratching habit, in fact through this
activity she is trying to make her self familiar with herself by leaving
her visible claws mark and odor that comes out of her paws. So after
scratching, it would be very easy for her to recognize and relate to the
place once again.

Scratching also keeps your cat in shape. This act will keep her get
active enough for her day to day activities. If you ever pay attention
to her ways, you will know that this act actually helps her pulling and
stretching the muscles of your cat's front quarters. By now you must
have realized that you can not stop your cat from this tendency. However
one thing that you can do is to re-channel her to the place where she
does not spoil your valuable items. Here are few tips which you can
apply in making your cat understand the right place and right ways to
scratch-

First of all, bring a scratching post for your pussy cat. Make
her understand that this is the scratching zone for her by taking
her front paws there and making her do scratching motions at the
post. If you want her to successfully use this scratching post, make
sure it is tall enough for her to fully expand her body, and most
importantly, stable enough so that she doesn't topple over when she
scratches.

If your cat is stubborn enough to not to give up her old
scratching zones through your direct appeals, you will have shoo her
away through indirect methods to let her distract from this place.
You can use lemon-scented sprays or a potpourri of lemon and orange
peels to make these zones unfavorable for her. You must know that
cats have a repugnance to citrus odors.

Regularly trim your cat nails but make sure that you never
de-claw them. If you de-claw her nails is like injuring her. This
can lead to physical, emotional and behavioral disturbance in her
life. Always remember her claws are a vital part of her anatomy,
essential to balance, mobility and survival.